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The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., January 12, 1939, page 1

THE SENTINEL SURVEYS SIXTY YEARS OF COUNTY JOURNALISM

Third oldest newspaper in Washington from standpoint of continuous publication, the Goldendale Sentinel this month is observing its sixtieth birthday. Established in 1879, just 10 years before Washington became a state, the Sentinel today has only two state contemporaries who are older. They are the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Waitsburg Times.
Files of the first Sentinel have long ago been destroyed but pioneers like E.M. Stultz and W.H. Ward recall that and an itinerant printer named John Stites established the first printing shop in Goldendale and ran off the first copy of the Sentinel in 1879.
This first paper, described as a tiny, one page, hand-set sheet was called the Klickitat Sentinel. Printed on a hand press, probably not more than 100 copies of the first Sentinel were ever published.
Where John Sites, The Sentinel's founder came from or where he went apparently has been forgotten. Like many of the journeymen printers of his day he probably sold out for a few dollars and went on to the next pioneer community with his composing stick and the proverbial hat full of type.
Ralph O. (Oregon) Dunbar, a young Goldendale attorney who later became a member of Washington's state supreme court, took over the newspaper Sites had started. During the next half dozen years, Dunbar, with the assistance of Cale S. Reinhart, another young Goldendale Republican who later became clerk of the supreme court, raised The Sentinel to a place of prominence among the journals of Territorial Washington.

Many Papers

Today's Goldendale Sentinel is the scion of a number of newspapers, all at one time or another prominent in Klickitat county history. The first of these, and the only one to contribute part of its name to the present Sentinel masthead, was the Goldendale Gazette. The Gazette, established in 1880, was edited by one Captain W.A. Wash, old Confederate army officer prominent in the early history of Goldendale.
For three years the Klickitat Sentinel and The Goldendale Gazette were rivals for local circulation and advertising. Then, in March of 1884, the two newspapers merged to form The Goldendale Sentinel. This paper operated under the editorship of Reinhart for a number of years into the days of Washington statehood.
Through its early years The Sentinel witnessed most of the ups and downs of pioneer journalism. Though apparently no copies of the edition are still extant, legend has it that The Sentinel once came out printed on wallpaper when newsprint failed to arrive from The Dalles in time for publication.
Since that day 60 years ago when John Sites established The Sentinel in a tiny building on the north side of Broadway where the late Dr. Bonebrake's residence now stands, this newspaper has had many homes. In its 60 years of publication The Sentinel has gone to press in the building now occupied by the Goldendale Laundry, in an old building located where the Reliance Creamery now stands, in a structure long since destroyed near the present Ward building and in the frame office on Upper Main street now occupied by Fred Oltman's paint shop.

Seek Old Papers

One of The Sentinel's earlier publisher editors, W.F. Byars, still contributes to the newspaper he was associated with for nearly 20 years. Byars contributes the column "Clippings of the Past," taken from early files of The Sentinel. Another of The Sentinel's former publishers, who was at the helm of this newspaper from 1909 until 1936, is Irving S. Bath, now of Portland. Still another present Goldendale resident, who once was associated with the publication of The Sentinel is E.C. Ward, attorney.
At least four residents of Klickitat county who were original subscribers of The Sentinel in 1879 still survive. They are: W.H. Ward, a pioneer Goldendale harness maker; Mrs. E.M. Stultz, Goldendale; D.H. Stegman, and John Mattson, both Centerville ranchers.
In all likelihood other pioneers, still living in Klickitat county or other sections of the Northwest, or on the first subscription list of The Sentinel. The Sentinel publishers would appreciate hearing from any of those subscribers of 60 years ago. If original copies of the Sentinel published in 1879 or of the wallpaper addition are still extant their owners are urged to contact the publishers.

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., January 4, 1945, page 1

HISTORY OF THE SENTINEL RECOUNTED ON 66TH ANNIVERSARY

One of the surest sign of old age is when one begins to reminisce over the by-gone days. The Sentinel this week becomes eligible to have 66 candles on its birthday cake; consequently it reaches for its cane and settles down to talk of the past.
The Sentinel makes no secret of its age, as it is very proud of the fact that only two other newspapers or possibly three, now existing in the state are as old as this one. The Waitsburg Times was founded in 1878, some months before The Sentinel, and has continued publication ever since. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the final result of three papers that merged. The Intelligencer was founded in 1867, the Post in 1878 and the Dispatch in 1879. There may be one other paper this old.

WAS TERRITORY

When the Sentinel was first founded in 1879, the State of Washington had not been formed from the old Territory. In fact, Goldendale had just been made the county seat by a vote taken in 1878 and Goldendale did not even become an incorporated town until November 14, 1879. There were but seven postoffices in the county at that time.
The Sentinel was also the result of a merger. According to "History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties," published in 1904, the first little paper to appear here was known as The Sun. It was started in 1877 and had a very brief existence, soon being sold to C.K. and K.A. Seitz, who founded the Klickitat Sentinel.
Not content to let The Sentinel have a monopoly, Captain W.A. Wash, who had come here to found a private academy, commenced publication of a rival newspaper, the Goldendale Gazette. The two papers bantered back and forth at each other in their columns, each sure that the other was remarkably worthless.

PRACTICALLY NO NEWS

Neither The Sentinel nor the Gazette was over endowed with that particular type of information known among newsmen as "news." Rather, both papers could have been printed in Kalamazoo as far as there being much of Goldendale mentioned except on the editorial page. The papers had ads on the front page. As a matter of fact, there was only a front and back page, with most of the stories being little incidents such as might be found in the feature sections of the large city papers. One of the early papers did indulge in a headline now and then, usually to the effect that two women had claimed benefits from Lydia Pinkham's new medicine, etc.
By 1885, both papers became financially shaky, and passed into the hands of a stock company which united them under one management. The new publication took its name from both, being The Goldendale Sentinel. The stock company was made up of businessmen, and it was incorporated with a capital stock of $3,500 divided into 35 shares.

DUNBAR FIRST EDITOR

Three directors were elected annually, one of them to be selected to take charge of the company's affairs. Ralph Oregon Dunbar was made the first manager. Dunbar later became chief justice of the Supreme Court at Olympia, and to this day is considered one of the greatest judges in the history of the state.
At this time the paper was to be politically neutral, as both parties were represented among the shareholders who were W.H. Boyd, William Cumming, W.R. Dunbar, J.T. Eshelman, J.M. Hess, Ophelia Cram. T.L. Masters, Joseph Nesbitt, C.S. Reinhart, E.B. Wise, R.O. Dunbar, Wm. Van Vactor, Frederick Eshelman, G.W. Stapleton, J.M. Luark W.J. Story.
Neutrality, in a political sense, was hard to maintain, and the columns of The Sentinel became more and more Republican.
The fire of 1888, which swept over the town taking all but three business houses and making 25 families homeless, also burned The Sentinel, with an estimated damage of $3,500. The paper did not stop publication, however, but the copy was taken to The Dalles Mountaineer office, where it was published and returned to Goldendale. This May 17 issue carried a story of the fire on the front page with a tiny headline titled, "The Fire."

MANY CHANGES MADE

To quote from "History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties:" "Changes of editors and managers have been extremely frequent. But to show that The Sentinel has been ably managed and edited, it is only necessary to mention some of the men who were from time to time associated with it. Among the names, we find the following who have achieved eminent success and are known throughout the state of Washington: W.R. Dunbar, formerly register at the Vancouver land office; C.S. Reinhart, clerk of the state supreme court; H.C. Phillips, present register of the United States land office at Vancouver (1904); State Senator George H. Baker, Honorable Joseph Nesbitt and others."

FIRST ISSUE ON DISPLAY

The very first issue of the newly-formed Goldendale Sentinel is on display in the office window this week. It consisted of one page printed on both sides, and had seven columns, with a subscription rate of $2.50 a year, the same as now. The first two columns were devoted to ads. The other five contained several poems and stories.
Assuming that the top of the paper was the place for the biggest stories of the week, that first issue would carry these headlines: Great Salt Lake: The Probable Outlet Accidentally Discovered by a Boy . . . and . . . The Talking Alligator: Captain Paul Beynton's Encounter While Floating Down the Arkansas River. Another headline concerned the story of Demosthenes. There was no news pertaining to Goldendale except on the back page.

FIRST EDITORIAL REPRINTED

An editorial concerning the naming of the new paper appeared, which we reprint:
"We had concluded to call this paper the Sentinel-Gazette and it was so announced in the Gazette last week; but after hearing it repeated several times, it sounded awkward and bungling. In fact it didn't jingle to suit us; hence we adopted the more euphoneous title Goldendale Sentinel, being equally a portion of the name of both of its parents. But then it really makes no difference what the child is named so it is properly reared."
The story is told, and is presumably true, that at one time during the early days of the Sentinel, the shipment of a newsprint did not arrive on time. The publisher, rather than lose the continuity of the legal notices for lack of paper, put the addition out on the backs of wallpaper.

W.F. BYARS IS EDITOR

Then 1893, the stockholders engaged W.A. Byars to come to Goldendale and manage the paper. Byars spent six months here, working for the Goldendale Publishing Co., and then returned to Portland. He soon came back and assumed his duties with the newspaper. When Byars first came here, The Sentinel was housed in the first wooden building east of the Goldendale Baking Co., where it had moved from the Leidl building, now the site of Mrs. Gunning's jewelry store. While Byars was in Portland, The Sentinel moved to the east room of the Farmers' Mercantile Building, the same room where the Klickitat County Agriculturist expired recently. The J.C. Penney Company is now at that site.

BYARS BECOMES OWNER

Over a period of years, Byars bought the stock belonging to the original shareholders, and became owner as well as editor of the paper. He moved it to the old Pike & Brooks building, which was where the Red & White store now stands. Later, Byars moved from there to a wooden structure just east of that, where the Pioneer State Bank is now.
Fearing another disastrous fire similar to the one of 1888, Byars decided to build a shop which would have no immediate neighbors, and he built the yellow building on the corner of Court and Grant streets during the winter of 1902 and 1903. The building still stands, and was used recently by the Scouts to house the paper collected in the waste paper drive.
Byars sold The Sentinel in May, 1907, having been connected with it for 14 years. He sold to Ed Ward and N.L. Ward, brothers, who hired O.C. "Dude" Nelson as editor and manager.

DEVIL IS BIG HELP

Byars' son, Nesbitt, was helping around the shop, learning the trade. Nelson did not arrive in time to make up the edition. Mr. Byars was also out of town so young Nesbitt took it upon himself to put the type together and make the lay-out of the paper. It was his first attempt at doing so, and he had no one to help him. The paper appeared on schedule, although it is said to have been one of the strangest-appearing papers in the history of The Sentinel. Nesbitt Byars is today and ordained minister. From printer's devil to preacher!
The ownership again changed hands when Irving Bath purchased The Sentinel and was both publisher and editor for many years. He soon moved it from the yellow building to a more central location, the present one. Before the paper occupied the site, the building had been the Brooks & Co. bank. During Bath's years here, he purchased most of the modern equipment, installing two linotype machines and other items.

PRESENT OWNERS BUY

In 1936, Bath sold the paper to Harold Fariello and Archie Radcliffe, the present publishers. Marion Sexton was the first editor, being here over 2 years, later going into the newspaper business with Marvin Kamholz at Vernonia, Oregon. Sexton was succeeded by Ron Richardson, who recently resigned to enter the Navy. Lt. Richardson is now in Washington, D.C. on the editorial staff of the Naval Aviation News.
The Klickitat County News was merged with The Sentinel when the present publishers took over, as Fariello had owned the News during its short existence of about two and a half years in Goldendale.

ARE FIRST SUBSCRIBERS

D.F. Stegman, 91, who lives in Goldendale, subscribed to the very first edition of this paper and has never missed an issue. John Mattson, also of this city, has taken the Sentinel consistently, "learning to read along with it," as he put it.
As the volume number changes to 66, The Sentinel has built up its subscription to 2550, and has a modern well-equipped plant both for publishing and for a job printing.
The figurative candles on the birthday cake are burning low, and The Sentinel lays down its cane, blows out the candles, and springs back to the presses.

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., November 19, 1953, page 9

SENTINEL FOURTH OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN WASHINGTON

The Goldendale Sentinel is the third oldest weekly newspaper in the state of. Washington in continuous publication, and the fourth oldest newspaper in the state. Preceding The Sentinel in age are the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a daily; and The Waitsburg Times and the Dayton Columbian Chronicle, weeklies, all founded in 1878, the year before The Sentinel began operation.
This information is gleaned from the History of Washington by Lyle Spencer, copyrighted in 1938. The Klickitat Sun and the Klickitat Sentinel, both founded in 1879, merged the same year to form The Goldendale Sentinel, the authority states.
"Newspapers Of Washington Territory", published in 1923 by Edmond S. Meany, offers the following information about Goldendale newspapers up to that time. Meany was with the University of Washington School of Journalism at the time the treatise was prepared.
Goldendale, Klickitat County-Gazette. "On May 14, 1885, it was sold by W. H. Walsh to a joint stock company and was merged into another paper" (Edwin N. Fuller, in Washington Press Association Proceedings, 1887-90, page 83).
Klickitat Sun, founded in 1879 and mentioned in the Census Reports of 1880.
Sentinel, frequently referred to as Klickitat Sentinel, founded in 1879, and mentioned in the Census Reports of 1880. Partial files are in the University of Washington Library and in the State Library at Olympia.
Tribune, founded on December 5, 1885 by M. H. Abbott and sold on June 3, 1886. (Edwin N. Fuller, in Washington Press Association Proceedings, 1887-90, page 33.)

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., July 1, 1954
Diamond Anniversary Edition, page 7

SENTINEL WAS LIVELY, NEWSY SHEET IN 1888; STORY OF WIFE BEATER DETAILED

Two old copies of the Sentinel recently found in the shop indicate that a lively and newsy weekly was put out here in 1888 by editor and publisher C.S. Reinhart.
The copies are dated July 26 and August 2, 1888 and are in somewhat battered condition but still very readable. The yellowing pages detail a wealth of local state and world-wide news, with the national and international on the front page, and the local news inside.
The July 26 issue tells of a local man sent to jail for wife-beating. He was locked up in a barn, the only available jailhouse after the disastrous fire early in 1888, but shortly made his escape. He stopped off at his home, "procured his fiddle and some clothing, and managed to get across the river to Grant where he was seen by the stage driver before leaving for Goldendale."
The personal nature of reporting in that day is illustrated in that narrative with the editor's comment: "To the people of the community the fact that he whipped his wife is not a matter of surprise, because it has been of such common occurrence that our citizens had begun to chide themselves for not having taken him in hand a long time ago, and inflicting upon him the only punishment that such an offense merits, i.e. a public whipping. We have often thought that the whipping post ought never to have been abolished, for there is no question but that it had terrors for a certain class that are not found in any other mode of punishment."
The article adds: "Goldendale is probably well-rid of him as the offense of breaking jail is one that he will doubtless not care to monkey with in the courts."
The concluding comment on the wife-beater, a former convict, was: "His principal occupation since returning from prison has been drinking, gambling, and whipping his wife."
There is a good advertising contest in these papers, too. But only a couple of old woodcuts for illustrations. One pictures the J.I. Case thresher, and another the new-fangled Advance thresher."
Advertisers included Goldendale Flour Mills, Masters and Benson pharmacy, Hartley and Noblett livery and feed, Curtis and Buford General Store at Centerville, Phil Carwell carriages and wagons, W.H. Ward's harness shop, "The Fair" hardware, H. Wing Dry Goods, J.M. Hess pharmacy, Benson and Thomas drugs, Scott and McCoy general merchandise, A. Schuster's Meat market, Cumming and Cram dry goods, Ed Johnson's milk route, Van Aelstyne's grocery, E.E. Pierce Lumber Co., Frank Patton's barber shop, A. Howard Real Estate, Rodman and Eshelman Real Estate, The Popular Restaurant. Pike and Brooks' Red Barn, and others.

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., July 1, 1954
Diamond Anniversary Edition, page 7

SENTINEL FOR A TIME CAME TWICE WEEKLY

Although the Goldendale Sentinel through most of its 75-year history has been a weekly, it was entered with the Post Office department as a semi-weekly on November 1, 1905 and for a time appeared twice weekly.
An old copy of, the authorization from the department to accept The Sentinel twice weekly for mailing was uncovered recently at the local post office by Postmaster Charles Allbritton. At the time The Sentinel went to twice-a-week publication the editor and publisher was W.F. Byars.
The authorization order was signed by Edwin C. Madden.